Through eons of time life has been slowly climbing up the ladder of unfoldment to the present self-conscious state achieved in man. Some degree of consciousness exists in everything because everything is some form of Spirit, and Spirit is Intelligence. However, there are degrees of intelligence, or consciousness. We often hear the expression, “Consciousness sleeps in mineral life, dreams in plant life, awakens in animal life, and comes to self-consciousness in man.” Man, then, stands at the very peak of the evolutionary climb. He is now a self-conscious individual which means that he not only knows, but knows that he knows. He can think about his own consciousness, and he now has the power of choice—the very summit of life’s upward striving. Evolution, through infinite ages, has done much for him.

Now, however, if the individual is to continue to progress he must take things in his own hands and choose to continue his climb. From now on he ascends because he himself has chosen to do so. In order to do this one must clearly realize that there is no separation between man and God. Remember, all is Spirit, expressions of the infinite God-Consciousness. There is nothing in the Universe that can hinder your upward climb—your increased awareness of Oneness with God— nothing unless you decide not to climb any more. The vast expanse of an ever-widening upward reach is available to you.

Desire and Work for the Best
In order to promote such growth you need to recognize the highest qualities in the range of human understanding, and cultivate them. Because all are sons of God it stands to reason that each has inherited the Father’s qualities, and they already lie within, waiting to be recognized and developed. Your own logical reasoning makes it plain that if you are to live a highly successful and happy life you need to be able to express those innate abilities which will produce experiences and conditions of success and happiness. If those God-given abilities are to be specifically used by you, you need to know about their nature and source.

The statement of Jesus that the Father’s life is in the son surely implies that the son must grow into the qualities of the Father in order to avail himself of that greater potential. You want to live wholesomely, successfully, and fill a worthy place in the world. If you are to do so you need to get acquainted with the characteristics that make up that kind of life, and then get to work and cultivate them.

True to Your Inner Divinity
Each one of us might think of himself as an outlet through which the activity of Spirit may flow. In fact, it is only as the qualities of God do flow through us that we more fully partake of His Nature, and that, after all, is our task—to more fully express the Nature of God, the Father. In whatever degree the qualities of perfection are part of your general conduct, to just that degree are you making God known to mankind. You are being true to your sonship only insofar as your inheritance of the Father’s Nature is portrayed by you. Each has the privilege and the responsibility of being a clear channel for the flow of God through him, as him.

What, then, are these qualities which must be ours? Read the list and consider it carefully. Unless all of these are experienced fully in your life, you need to become more aware of your unity with God. The God-qualities are an integral part of you; they lie deep within you, whether you admit it or not. At the center of your being are Life, Love, Wisdom, Intelligence, Peace, Creativity, Beauty, and Joy.

Immediately you realize that if all persons made use of these qualities—actually lived them—there could be no inharmony, no lack, no ignorance, no illness, no sordidness, fear, or sadness. For growth into our God-like nature Jesus proclaimed “the way, the truth, and the life.” It is to this high consciousness that we aspire, and as it unfolds within us these qualities are developed. What Jesus did, we, too, must do. We have no reason not to fully believe and accept his amazing statement: “....the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do...”

You honestly do want to accomplish and to achieve that which shall produce for you the wholesome, happy, and successful life—the joyous, healthy life—which your awareness of the Nature of God holds out for you. To aspire and attain to this you must recognize that you have, by nature, the requisite ability within and then cultivate those qualities which will let it develop. •

Excerpted from The Basic Ideas of Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes, published by Devorss Publications.

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